Expanding your at-home workforce can have a major effect on network infrastructure, cybersecurity, and company culture. Progent has two decades of experience helping businesses of all sizes to plan, deploy, manage, optimize, and troubleshoot IT networks that support at-home workers. Progent can help your Carlsbad organization to pick the appropriate technologies and follow best practices in creating and maintaining a secure virtual office ecosystem for telecommuters that promotes teamwork and returns top value. Progent can provide services that go from as-needed guidance for getting you over challenging technical roadblocks to full project management or co-management to help you successfully complete business-critical tasks.

Progent's consultants can assist Carlsbad, California organizations to succeed with any aspect of creating a high-performing remote work environment by delivering network infrastructure design and configuration services, VoIP PBX troubleshooting, video conferencing integration, collaboration platform selection and deployment, cloud connectivity, helpdesk augmentation, security and compliance, data protection solutions, and streamlined management.

Infrastructure for an At-Home Workforce
Setting up the physical and software infrastructure needed for a remote workforce can be particularly complex if you have to manage a mix of personal equipment such as desktop computers and laptops, routers, and wireless appliances from various vendors and with a mix of OS software and firmware releases. Progent's experience providing online support for both outdated and modern technologies in remote office solutions enables you to make cost-effective use of your existing infrastructure and provides you with ready access to top-tire consultants for implement essential upgrades. Support services offered by Progent to assist your company to implement a high-functioning work-at-home ecosystem include:

  • Virtual Private Network technology allows you to create a safe tunnel for authenticated remote employees to use IT resources located at your company datacenter or in a public cloud. Progent can assist you to deploy and manage VPN access between your teleworkers and your key IT resources by providing remote VPN configuration consulting. For organizations using Cisco's ASA security appliances, Progent's Cisco-certified ASA consultants can help your remote workers to set up Cisco's AnyConnect client software to provide safe VPN tunneling for a wide range of endpoint devices such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, Apple iOS, Linux, and Google Android.
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) platforms enable an at-home worker to view and interact with a data center PC's desktop. This technology gives IT managers substantial control over the computing environment of telecommuters and offers them a familiar experience. Progent's VDI consulting services include Windows Remote Desktop integration and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops expertise.
  • Routers attach home networks to the Internet and support VPN tunnels, local Wi-Fi networks, and firewall services. Progent offers expert online consulting for deploying home routers from all major manufacturers. See router integration support from Cisco-certified consultants.
  • Home Wireless networks, often shared by the whole family and visitors, are commonly utilized by at-home employees to connect to their router for work. This can cause performance as well as cybersecurity problems. Progent can help you to resolve these problems by providing expertise like Cisco Aironet configuration consulting, Cisco Meraki wireless installation consulting, and Ubiquiti Unifi wireless AP integration assistance.
  • Internet access methods impact the performance and availability of connections between telecommuters and the company data center. Line-of-business applications may demand backup Internet access in case the normal connection breaks. Progent can provide expertise for selecting service providers, picking sensible bandwidth and data volume offerings, and configuring high-availability Internet connections. Refer to Internet connectivity integration services.

IP Voice Integration for At-Home Workers
Expanding the corporate PBX environment to accommodate remote users is vital to supporting an effective work-at-home solution. A broad range of cloud-based VoIP products are popular with small and mid-size businesses to server teleworkers. Many enterprises rely on Cisco's current or legacy products for VoIP solutions. Progent can assist organizations of any size to plan or tune a remote IP voice environment that delivers the versatility, transparency and security required for at-home workers. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE IP Voice consultants can provide advanced support to assist businesses tune their current Cisco IP voice systems to support a growing remote workforce.

  • Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) delivers enterprise IP telephony features to devices like IP phones, media processing products, Voice over IP gateways, and mixed media software used throughout the network. CUCM manages other combined media services such as messaging, video conferencing, and team collaboration networks. For details about Progent's Cisco Unified CM or CUCM support, refer to CUCM consultants.
  • CallManager is Cisco's legacy call-processing software and has been superseded by Cisco Unified CM. Progent's consultants can help you to maintain your current CallManager environment or migrate efficiently to Cisco's modern IP telephony solutions. To learn about Progent's expertise for Cisco CallManager and Cisco's other older VoIP products, refer to CallManager expertise.
  • Cisco IP Gateways provide integration with PSTN networks and with users working beyond the corporate perimeter like telecommuters. Progent can provide expert support for Cisco's earlier generation IP gateways including the UC520, UC540 and UC560 series and for modern Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateways. See Cisco Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) gateway configuration consulting.
  • Other VoIP Products supported by Progent's consultants include Vonage, Intermedia Unite and 8x8. Progent can assist you to enhance your wide area network architecture to work with these solutions and deliver on-demand configuration and debugging expertise.

Voice/Video Conferencing for an At-Home Workforce
A broad range of voice/video conferencing platforms from leading vendors enable online meetings, video conferencing, chat, and content sharing for both onsite users and teleworkers. Many organizations utilize a mix of products to meet the needs of their various partners and clients. Progent can help you to manage your existing conferencing environment and enhance the experience of your at-home workforce.

  • Skype for Business is Microsoft's popular communications platform that enables real-time presence, IM, voice and video calling and conferencing as well as the seamless integration of these capabilities within Office desktop and Microsoft 365 productivity software such as PowerPoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified specialists who can assist your company to configure and maintain Skype for Business client software to support your remote employees. For details about Progent's consulting services for Skype for Business, see Skype for Business integration experts.
  • FaceTime is Apple's multiuser video phone app for iOS, iPadOS, iPod and macOS computers and smartphones. FaceTime runs on Wi-Fi or cellular Internet connections. Later versions of FaceTime allow up to 32 simultaneous users for voice/video calls. For details about Progent's consulting expertise for Apple FaceTime, see Progent's FaceTime configuration expertise.
  • Webex Meeting Center provides remote conferencing for most desktop or mobile devices. Delivered via Cisco's Webex Cloud platform, Webex capabilities include sharing specific content or computer screens, presentations that incorporate rich media including Microsoft PowerPoint and Flash videos, session recording, plus revision and playback for future reference and training. For details about Progent's consulting services for Cisco Webex as well as for other IP video solutions from Cisco, refer to Progent's Webex Meeting Center support services.
  • Teams is Microsoft's next-generation replacement for Skype for Business. Teams provides a hub for conferencing, contacts, and information with capabilities such as voice/video conferencing, threaded chat, plus file sharing. To learn more about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft Teams as well as for other Microsoft 365 apps, refer to Progent's Microsoft Teams consulting services.
  • Other Voice/Video Conferencing Apps supported by Progent include Google Meet, Amazon Chime, Zoom, and Slack. Progent can provide integration and troubleshooting expertise for these products and help your business to tune your network architecture to host them.

Microsoft Integrated Collaboration Software for an At-Home Workforce
Microsoft's collaboration products are tightly integrated with Microsoft's familiar Office families, providing a rich environment of applications that deliver a cohesive user experience for exchanging information throughout a corporate network and on a wide range of endpoint devices. Progent has provided online consulting support for SharePoint and Exchange Server since their original publication and can assist businesses to tune these critical collaboration products to maximize the effectiveness of your remote workers.

Microsoft's collaboration platforms are tightly integrated with Microsoft's popular Office suite, providing a rich ecosystem of applications that deliver a consistent user experience for sharing information across multiple sites and on a wide variety of endpoint devices. Progent has provided remote consulting services for SharePoint and Exchange since their initial releases and can help at-home workers set up and use these flagship collaboration platforms to maximize productivity.

Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium Integration Consultants for TelecommutersMicrosoft Teams works with Microsoft 365 and supports third-party cloud services to deliver real-time collaboration. Designed as a substitute for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft Teams can support chat, audio/video meetings that include screen sharing, phone calls, cloud voicemail, group email, plus file and application sharing. Teams is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365 and relies on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Azure Entra (formerly branded Azure Active Directory) for supporting its complete range of features. For details about Progent's support services for Microsoft Teams and Teams Premium, see solution design and configuration consulting for Microsoft Teams.

SharePoint Configuration Experts for Remote WorkersSharePoint utilizes web sites to facilitate collaboration and information delivery by providing policy-based access to content, workflow, and utilities for searching through enterprise-wide business data. SharePoint enables you to build secure portals that enables remote workforce to view and update aggregated corporate intelligence via Intranets (Wikis), Blogs, social sites, and Web Parts. To find out about Progent's SharePoint expertise, go to SharePoint configuration and development consulting.

Exchange Configuration Consultants for At-Home WorkersExchange and Exchange Online offer secure collaboration features including public folders, shared mailboxes, and shared calendars and contacts. Progent's Microsoft certified Exchange experts can show you how to activate and utilize these features for your at-home workers. To learn about Progent's Exchange consulting expertise, visit deployment consulting for Microsoft Exchange Server.

Microsoft Onedrive Deployment Consultants for Remote WorkersOneDrive is Microsoft�s shared cloud-based file hosting and synchronization service, similar to GoogleDrive. Remote workers can save files to the OneDrive service, and co-workers can access them securely via a browser. Provided with Office 365, OneDrive allows at-home employees to co-edit files. Revisions made offline are automatically uploaded when you reconnect to the Internet. For information about Progent's support services for OneDrive, refer to Onedrive integration experts.

Cloud Integration Services for Teleworkers
Progent offers affordable online assistance for helping organizations to build, manage and troubleshoot integrated network architectures that combine internal data centers, telecommuters, branch offices, plus cloud services. Progent offers top-tier consultant for all modes of public cloud service delivery including Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Progent can help teleworkers resolve issues with cloud connectivity, authentication, and cybersecurity.

Microsoft Azure Integration for At-Home WorkersMicrosoft Azure is a popular family of public cloud services that enables you to utilize IT infrastructure, virtual servers, and key apps running on Microsoft's massive cloud. Microsoft Azure includes more than one hundred cloud-based services including hosting for Windows and Linux-based virtual machines, scalable cloud storage, email and messaging, application development with Visual Studio, and data backup. Progent can assist you to deploy virtual machines on Azure Virtual Machines, configure storage on Azure Storage services, unify identity management with Azure AD, and plan backup and recovery solutions with Azure Backup. Progent can also show you how to establish secure connections to Azure for remote workers by setting up and troubleshooting firewall appliances and VPN IPsec tunnels. To learn about Progent's consulting expertise for Azure, visit Azure consulting.

Microsoft 365 Integration Services for TeleworkersMicrosoft 365, formerly branded Office 365, is Microsoft's popular family of business productivity software and cloud services available by subscription. Microsoft apps and cloud services are marketed in a selection of plans intended for users ranging from students and households to large enterprises. Progent can provide quick and affordable remote access to consultants knowledgeable about Microsoft 365-compatible endpoint devices based on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Google Android operating systems. Progent can assist you to evaluate the numerous subscription bundles offered with Microsoft 365 and deploy 365 apps for your telecommuters in a way that delivers maximum business value. For information about Progent's consulting expertise for Microsoft 365, visit Microsoft 365 integration expertise.

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online Integration Services for TeleworkersMicrosoft 365 Exchange Online is one of the most popular applications in Azure-hosted Microsoft 365 product suite. Exchange Online offers the advantages of reduced spending for physical infrastructure, simplified management, dynamic scaling, high availability, and other advantages associated with cloud computing. Microsoft has designed Microsoft 365 Exchange Online to operate smoothly with local deployments of Exchange, allowing you to build hybrid information systems. Progent's certified Exchange experts are available for occasional help to guide you past tough technical roadblocks and can also provide end-to-end project management services to ensure your remote workers have easy and secure access to your Exchange Online deployment. For information Progent's consulting services for Exchange Online, see Exchange Online configuration and support expertise.

Amazon AWS Integration Services for TeleworkersAmazon AWS is a pioneer in the public cloud computing market and is the industry's biggest provider of cloud services. Progent offers quick and affordable online access to cloud connectivity consultants who can assist your organization to plan, deploy, manage, and troubleshoot hybrid information networks that integrate Amazon AWS cloud-based services with local data centers and with other public clouds such as Microsoft Azure. Progent also can provide the skills of Cisco-certified CCIE networking consultants to assist your company to create a high-availability network architecture so your users have a consistent computing experience whether they are working from your headquarters, a remote branch, from home, or on the road. To learn about Progent's support services for Amazon AWS, see Amazon AWS integration expertise.

Google Cloud Platform Integration Services for Remote WorkersGoogle Cloud Platform is a popular collection of public cloud services that offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products. Progent's Microsoft, Linux, and Cisco experts can help your business to expand your current IT resources with the Google Cloud Platform, and Progent's database experts can help you make your key applications cloud friendly so your teleworkers can benefit fully from Google Cloud Platform services. Progent can assist you to deploy virtual machines on GCP Compute Engine, design an efficient storage system with Google Cloud Storage services, and simplify identity management for at-home workers with Google Cloud Identity. Progent's consultants can also help your business to use GCP's management technology to administer and track your Google Cloud ecosystem. For information, visit Google Cloud Platform (GCP) consulting support.

Help Desk Call Center Support for Teleworkers
An emergency, enterprise-wide switchover to a teleworker workforce, which might be motivated by an epidemic or as an element of a business continuity process, can overstretch even the most efficient internal Call Desk. Progent's Help Desk Call Center services make it possible for organizations to outsource or supplement their Help Desk Call Center by using Progent's online Technical Response Center (TRC) services.

  • Progent's Standard Support Desk services leverage Progent's nationwide network of online technical support specialists combined with enterprise-class ticketing and tracking software to offer an economical, modern Call Center. Progent's Standard Help Desk Services offer a comprehensive solution that addresses all facets of remote Level 1 desktop technical support from initial help requests through ticket creation, screen sharing, issue resolution, and incident reporting. A web-based User's Service Portal enables teleworkers to check or revise the status of their active trouble tickets, add details, and append screen captures or relevant files. Desktop support services are delivered at a substantial price reduction off Progent's normal Level 1 desktop support rates, and Progent makes available the option of fast escalation to Level 2 and Level 3 support experts to resolve complex problems. To find out more, refer to Progent's Standard Helpdesk Services for small and mid-size businesses.
  • Progent's Support Desk Supplemental Service allows your company to expand your existing Support Desk organization by splitting delivery of Help Desk Call Center support services transparently between your in-house support organization and Progent's extensive team of PC support technicians and subject matter experts. Progent's shared Support Desk service uses a collaborative support model utilizing the leading professional services automation platform for managing service requests and trouble tickets, establishing responsibility, tracking progress, and producing reports. For information about how Progent's Call Center Augmentation Services can enable your company to deliver best-in-class technical support to your telecommuters, go to Progent's Help Desk Call Center augmentation Services.

Security for At-Home Workers
Work-from-Home staff members commonly use their own computers and usually work in a poorly secured physical environment. This multiplies their vulnerability to malware threats and requires judicious configuration of corporate firewalls, anti-malware tools, multi-factor authentication, remote monitoring, extensive end-user training, and the creation of security policies based on best practices. Progent's seasoned team of data security support experts can assist your business to plan, implement and maintain an effective cybersecurity solution that protects critical IT resources in environments that include an at-home workforce.

Firewall Integration Services for At-Home WorkersFirewalls allow companies to create a network environment that can be securely accessed by local users as well as by at-home workers, mobile users, suppliers, customers, and the public. Modern firewall appliances permit you to assign and control different permissions to various groups of users and to scale your IT network and adjust your security profile as your company evolves and as network attacks become more sophisticated. Progent supports both new and older security devices from all major manufacturers like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, WatchGuard, Juniper, and Fortinet. To learn more about Progent's firewall integration services, go to firewall configuration and support expertise.

Remote Endpoint Monitoring Services for At-Home WorkersRemote Endpoint Monitoring makes it easy to track the disparate computers used by at-home workers and either reject or identify and respond to modern cyber attacks such as ransomware. With ProSight Active Security Monitoring (ASM) services, a small-footprint agent is installed on every protected endpoint device, monitoring all activity and using advanced AI technology from SentinelOne to detect new attacks at inception. When a cyberattack is spotted, ProSight Active Security Monitoring instantly disconnects the targeted endpoint from the network to contain the malware. Since the ProSight ASM agent is autonomous, endpoints remain secure even if they are not connected to the Internet. Progent is a SentinelOne Partner, reseller, and integrator. To learn more about ProSight Active Security Monitoring, visit remote endpoint monitoring for an at-home workforce.

Two-factor Authentication (2FA) Services for At-Home WorkersProgent's Duo MFA Services utilize Cisco's Duo technology to defend against password theft through the use of two-factor authentication (2FA). Duo enables single-tap identity verification on Apple iOS, Android, and other out-of-band devices. With 2FA, whenever you log into a protected application and give your password you are requested to confirm who you are via a unit that only you have and that is accessed using a different ("out-of-band") network channel. A broad range of out-of-band devices can be utilized as this second form of authentication including an iPhone or Android or wearable, a hardware token, a landline phone, etc. You may designate multiple verification devices. For more information about ProSight Duo two-factor identity authentication services, refer to Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication (2FA) services for telecommuters.

Security Audit Services for At-Home WorkersSecurity Audits can assess the vulnerability of your network to all classes of external and local security threats for a network that incorporates an at-home workforce. Progent can deploy online, automated security analysis scanning for quickly and affordably uncovering a wide variety of security weaknesses that can be found via the Internet. Progent's security assessment experts, which can be managed by security professionals with advanced credentials including CISM, ISSAP, and GIAC, can help your company to evaluate your workflows and governance policies and assess your network infrastructure to enable you to design top-level protection for your at-home workers.

NodeZero Pen Testing for At-Home WorkersHorizon3.ai's NodeZero Penetration Testing Platform is a leading-edge penetration test (pentest) product family that can deliver autonomous threat assessment of your work-from-home environment as well as your internal and perimeter networks so you can expose, rank, fix, and verify security weaknesses before malicious hackers can take advantage of them. Progent can assist you to use NodeZero to carry out comprehensive pentests of your perimeter and your internal IT infrastructure so you can determine your current security posture. Progent can also help you to harden your existing network security and can assist you to plan and implement a unified cybersecurity ecosystem that streamlines management and delivers maximum protection for on-prem, cloud-based, remote, and perimeter IT assets. To find out more information about Progent's vulnerability assessment services based on on NodeZero's penetration test platform, see Consulting Support for NodeZero's PEN Test Platform.

Download White Paper: Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment
To read or download a white paper about critical things to concentrate on for protecting an IT environment that includes work-from-home staff, click:
Securing a Work-From-Home (WFH) Environment White Paper. (PDF - 2.4 MB)

Data Protection for At-Home Workers
The field of Data Protection covers saving and restoring critical information so as to avoid data loss and minimize restoration time and effort in the event of storage system problems due to hardware issues, programming glitches, operator error, cyber attack, or other causes. Dependable data protection strategies can be especially challenging to design and maintain in hybrid networks that combine private data centers, public clouds, and at-home workers.

  • Backup/Recovery solutions for telecommuters must address diverse types of user-owned endpoints. Progent offers quick remote access to experts knowledgeable about a wide range of platforms for protection Windows, Apple and Linux/UNIX servers and desktop computers as well as notebooks, iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. Leading backup/restore products supported by Progent's backup/recovery experts include Barracuda Backup, Azure Backup, DoubleTake Software, CrashPlan, Retrospect, and Time Machine. To protect resources distributed across a wide area network, Progent offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS), a managed backup/recovery service that uses cloud storage and features fine-grained restore and centralized management capabilities.
  • Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (DR/BC) plans typically envision circumstances that call for a temporary switch to telecommuting. Progent's senior disaster recovery preparedness consultants and business continuity planning specialists can assist you to create, document and test a DR/BC strategy that addresses the logistics of moving to telecommuting.

Unified Management for Remote Workers
Microsoft has renamed and reshuffled its endpoint management products under the name Endpoint Manager, which includes Intune for cloud-based management of remote endpoints and Configuration Manager for managing on-premises endpoints. Microsoft Endpoint Manager provides a centralized environment for safeguarding critical information by controlling onsite, mobile, and home-based endpoints.

Microsoft Intune
Intune is part of Microsoft's Endpoint Management suite that also features Microsoft Configuration Manager. Intune is a cloud service for managing and securing mobile devices and software. Remote endpoint computers can be user owned or company owned. IT admins managing the enrolled endpoint devices of teleworkers can utilize Intune to provision and validate apps on devices, push patches and certificates, set up policies for accessing information and networks, set passwords, create VPN connections, determine how teleworkers share data, establish threat defense, ensure security compliance, and wipe sensitive information from lost, stolen or deactivated devices. Intune works with iOS/iPadOS, Android, Windows, and macOS/OS X devices. For details about Microsoft Intune and to find out how Progent can assist your company to use Microsoft's Endpoint Management to manage the endpoint computers of your at-home workers, see Intune mobile endpoint management expertise.

VMware Workspace ONE
VMware Workspace ONE is a feature-rich unified Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform that helps network managers to keep remote endpoint devices current and protected. Workspace ONE uses VMware AirWatch for centralized endpoint administration combined with VMware's Horizon virtual software delivery technology for authorization control, app management, and configuration management of endpoints. Workspace ONE runs with devices powered by Windows 10, macOS, iOS, Google Android, Chrome OS, or leading distros of Linux. VMware Workspace ONE is offered by subscription as a cloud-based service or as an on-premises product through a one-time purchase. Top features of Workspace ONE include rapid remote deployment of new laptops, quick onboarding of new employees, policy setting and enforcement for all classes of endpoints, aggregated reporting and performance analytics, email encryption, and seamless integration with Microsoft applications and cloud products. For details about Progent's expertise for VMware Workspace ONE, see VMware Workspace ONE remote device management expertise.

Contact Progent for Remote Workforce Expertise
To get in touch with Progent about creating and maintaining a productive work-from-home solution for your Carlsbad, California organization, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.